No premier backed plans for a mask mandate

Despite doctors urging Aussies to wear face masks amid rising Covid-19 cases, no state premier has backed plans for a mandate.

Anthony Albanese has revealed not a single state premier backed mask mandates at national cabinet.

Defending the decision not to mandate masks in the wake of rising cases, Mr Albanese said there were also “mental health concerns” about the reintroduction of punitive rules.

“Well, none of the premiers or chief ministers were advocating that on Saturday,’’ Mr Albanese told ABC Melbourne.

The Prime Minister said it also wasn’t being privately pushed by the Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.

“No, he’s not,’ he said.

“Professor Kelly has not put forward a plan for mandates. He’s used the same language that I’ve seen state premiers use, which is that people should be highly encouraged to wear masks indoors, where they’re in circumstances where they can’t socially distance.”

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Mr Albanese said not one premier backed the idea of another mask mandate in Saturday’s national cabinet meeting. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Albanese said if mask mandates were put in place there was a very real prospect of civil disobedience and people not following the rules.

“And it’s no good having a mandate unless it’s enforced,’’ he said.

In NSW and Victoria, he said public transport users were simply ignoring mask mandates.

“And are there people jumping on trams here in Victoria and enforcing the rules and fining people?,’’ he said.

“I don’t know that is happening. It’s not happening in New South Wales.

“So it is difficult for public officers to advocate for a mandate. (It) isn’t really a mandate unless it’s enforced.

“The other thing you need to bear in mind is the mental health aspects of restrictions on people’s behaviour.

“We need to get the balance right. And I think that’s something that the Chief Health Officers have borne in mind. I know from Professor Kelly and the meetings I’ve had with him and I’ve met with him regularly as Prime Minister, I will continue to do so.”

Mask mandates remain off the cards for now, despite calls from public health experts to reinstate the rule. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly rejected claims earlier this week that he wanted to reintroduce mandatory mask wearing but had been ignored by the national cabinet.

“Indoor mask use does stop the transmission, it will slow the spread. How that is achieved is really a matter for others,’’ Professor Kelly said.

Sunrise host David Koch then asked if he had been “overruled and you’re being too polite.”

But Professor Kelly said that was not the case.

The Prime Minister said he expected to see cases rise for the next few weeks, but then to go in decline next month, towards September.

“Australians have been magnificent in the way that they’ve looked after each other during this pandemic,’’ Mr Albanese said.